Category Archives: Baking

When it comes to Vadai, Masala vadai is my all time favorite. Usually I deep fry them in oil, but my baking addiction these days told me to try a baked version. These days its snowing here and on one such days I was craving for Masala Vadai. Soaked the dal and grinded. Decided to try baked version but was little worried about the texture, so instead of making the full batch took half of the batter and started baking it. Preheated the oven and took baking tray and I realized I was out of parchment paper. I thought is this sign telling me not to bake, but I greased the tray with extra oil (compare to my usual quantity) and baked. Oh man I didn’t believe the taste. My husband didn’t believe that its baked, but after seeing the second batch from the oven he accepted:-)

Its snowing today as well and my mind has started thinking about snacks. I am sure I will end up cooking some snack today but for time being this crispy baked Masala Vadai is for my lovely readers.

Wash and soak channa dal for 2 to 3 hrs. Drain the water completely and keep aside. Grind together with other ingredients listed under “To grind” with 1 – 2 tsp of water into a coarse mixture (less water helps in crispy vadai texture. Avoid using too much water)

Transfer the mixture to the mixing bowl and add onions, curry leaves, coriander leaves and mix well

Preheat the oven to 400 degree Fahrenhait. Take the baking tray and brush the oil

Take small portions of the mixture, and flatten them using your palm (thinner vadai yields crispy vadai)

Place them in the greased tray and brush the top portion of each vadai with little oil to avoid drying out and of course for the crispy finish

Bake the vadai for 11 – 15 min, till they have browned the underside (adjust time according to your oven) . Carefully flip them and bake again for another 11 – 15 minutes. Remove and serve immediately. Serve with chutney/ ketchup. I generally love to finish them without any sides

My Notes:

The key for the perfect baked vadai is batter with less moisture (water) and greasing generously with oil/ spray

If the vadai is thick outer portion will cook fast and inner will remain uncooked, and baking for more time may lead to to rubbery vadai

Just like the fried ones – these are best served the minute they are made. If can’t eat the vadai immediately, switch off the oven and keep the vadai tray back in the over till you eat. Make sure you keep the vadai back in oven after 10 minutes as the oven will still be hot. Though the crispness won’t retain for hours together but for 30 – 45 minutes it works perfect. After that I haven’t tried

Its raining these days at my place, and a rainy day calls for a quick snack. Had few bread slices, and thought of preparing baked bread rolls. I then rembered the bread vada recipe in I saw in sanjeevkapoor site, and wanted to try that. Since I preferred baking, I consider it as Tikki:-)

Baked Bread Tikki

Prepartion time : 10 mins | Cooking time : 20 – 25 mins | Serves : 4

Recipe category : Appetizer

Ingredients:

Bread slices – 6, crumbled (I used whole wheat bread)

Onion – 1, finely chopped

Green chili – 1, finely chopped

Curry leaves – few

Coriander leaves – few

Salt – as needed

Ginger – 1/8 tsp

Asafoetida – generous pinch

Rice flour – 1/3 cup

Semolina – 1 tbsp.

Baking soda – generous pinch

Yogurt – 1/3 cup

Oil – 2 tbsp

Oil/ Cooking Spray – to grease

Method

• Preheat the oven to 400 degree Farenheit

• Add rice flour, bread crumbs,semolina and salt in a bowl and mix well
• Add onion, ginger, coriander, curry leaves, oil and green chilli to the mixture and combine everything. Add yogurt and make a dough. If required add some more yogurt/water (1 or 2 tsp of yogurt)
• Make small balls and flatten it to a thin tikki. Grease the foil with cooking spray, or brush with oil on both side of tikki
• Bake them for about 20 minutes, turning sides in between or until they are crisp and golden brown. Broil for 2 -3 minutes in low

My Notes:

Instead of baking, can also deep fry in oil

Can add any veggies of your choice

Original recipe called for peanut powder. As I didn’t have peanut that day I used semolina

They taste best when served immediately. If its kept for a long time they tend to became rubbery

Ever since I had this dish for the first time, I have been having a big question in my mind – why is it named 65?. As I mentioned in Cauliflower Peas Masala, cauliflower is my sister’s favorite veggie, and this is her default order in most restaurants. First time when I tried baking cauliflower, it was total flopshow. Invited Hubby’s friends for dinner and thought of baking this. That day I added yellow corn meal. I marinated cauliflower for 2 hours, it was soggy and I didn’t get proper fries, then I did some gimmick and managed. Again I wanted to try this with white corn flour, and reduce my marination time, and finally succeeded!

Yesterday being a weekend evening, felt like having some quick snack. I fist thought of doing Baked Besan Bonda/ Baked Onion Pakoda, but I didn’t have enough Besan flour. I also didn’t have enough patience to soak and do anything. Suddenly I noticed I had some leftover rice. One of my friends had once told me that her mom makes Vathal (Fryums) with leftover rice. My mom prepares Vadam with rice flour and tapioca sago, dries them in sun for 2 days and it is deep fried in oil. OMG, I love it. I wanted to try something similar to my friend’s mom version. I won’t say it was as crispy as fried version, but soft and a bit chewy snack.

Baked Rice Cracker

Preparation Time : 5 mins | Cooking Time : 20 – 25 mins

Recipe Category: Snack

Ingredients:

Cooked Rice – 1 cup (I used Brown rice, any rice can be used)

Lemon juice – 1 tbsp

Coriander powder – 1/4 tsp

Garlic Powder – 1/8 esp

Salt – as needed

Oil/ Cooking spray – to grease (I used cooking spray )

Method:

Preheat the oven to 350 degree Fahrenheit. Place baking paper on baking tray and grease it

Mixture is my sister’s favorite snack. My sis had a peculiar habit of eating mixture when she was young, She would soak the mixture in water and eat it. Till today I couldn’t figure out the reason;-) As a teatime snack or a side for rice, Mixture is a winner. I couldn’t get the Indian Mixture here, so I started to eat Hunter mix and loved it. I tell myself its kettle roasted, so guilt free snack;-) wanted to avoid eating that and make a healthy homemade alternative. Traditional mixture recipe is bit lengthy, though it tastes yummy. A lazy cook like me wanted to make it quick and simple. I frequently do Puffed Rice Mixtute for teatime snack. Baking fever (that’s how hubby calls my addiction to baking) told me to try mixture with puffed and flattened rice, and with nuts. I have baked Honey Glazed Almonds, but had second thoughts to bake flattened rice. I saw my friend Chitra’s oats poha granola post and confidently tried mixture, and it was a big hit at home. This is a simple and easy mixture. Need to try my luck with some more ingredients next time.

Baked Healthy Mixture:

Preparation Time : 5 mins | Cooking Time : 15 – 20 mins

Recipe Category: Snack

Ingredients:

Puffed Rice / Pori – 1 cup

Thin Flattened Rice/ Poha (White/ Red) – 1 cup (I used white)

Walnuts – 3 tbsp ( cut into big pieces)

Peanuts – 4 tbsp

Almonds – 3 tbsp

Sunflower seeds – 4 tbsp

Turmeric powder – 1/4 tsp

Coriander powder – 1/4 tsp

Chilli Powder – 1/4 tsp (Adjust according to your spice level)

Asafoetida/Hing – a generous pinch

Oil – 1/2 tsp

Salt – as needed

Cooking Spray/ Oil – to grease (I used cooking spray)

Method

Pre-heat the oven to 150 degree Fahrenhait. Line the baking tray with aliminium foil (or any Baking paper) and grease with cooking spray

Combine puffed and flattened rice along with nuts and mix well

Add the spice powder (Turmeric, Chilli etc.) and oil to the mixture. Combine everything well

Spread the mixture on a foil and bake in the preheated oven for 15 – 20 mins

Check for the seasoning and add if required. Store in a Airtight container to maintain the freshness

My Notes:

Can add Fried gram, cashew nut, curry leaves, raisin or any other Nuts of your choice

Instead of baking, you can also deep fry flattened rice, and shallow fry puffed rice and nuts. Combine everything together

Thattai is one of my favorite snacks. When my mother in law came to visit us, she used to prepare thattai and put them in big box. We snack them all day. On krishna jayanthi, i wanted to do some thattai. Generally they are deep fried in oil. After seeing Baked Seedai result, I was confident enough to try my luck with baked healthy thattai. Thattai and seedai are almost similar – for thattai, chilli powder is the additional ingredient. Crispy and yummy thattai without much oil was ready. After Krishna jayanthi, I posted this pic in my FB page. Somehow it took me so such time to draft this post. Thanks to everyone who messaged me in FB for thattai recipe, and sorry for the delay in posting it.

Take 1/4cup of whole urad Dal and dry roast till they are golden brown. When it comes to room temperature, grind them into fine powder

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Line a baking tray with parchment paper and grease the parchment paper with oil

Dry roast the rice flour in low flame for 2/3 minutes. Do not overcook till they change color

In a wide vessel, add the rice flour and 2 tblsp of urad dal flour and salt. Sieve them for even mixing. Add asofetida and chilli powder to sieved flour and mix well

Add water slowly and knead them into a pliable dough

Grease your hands with coconut oil and make small balls (approximately 1 tsp dough). Flatten the balls on greased palm (2-3 inch in diameter) and carefully place on baking tray

Bake in the preheated oven for 12 – 15 minutes. Then flip over very carefully and bake for another 12-15 minutes

My Notes:

Cumin seeds, sesame seeds, curry leaves and Chana Dal can be added

If you are frying, the thatti has to be fried in a medium low flame, as it will help for even cooking. Heat oil in a pan, When the oil becomes hot gently put the thattai to the oil. Cook till the hissing sound of oil subsides.

I used the store-bought rice flour. Alternatively you can wash and soak the raw rice for 1/2 hours and dry them in a cloth till moisture completely dries, and grind them into fine powder

For Gokulashtami, I had prepared this Baked Seedai. I have never made seedai before. Last year I wanted to do, but my mom alarmed me saying Seedai may burst, so I was scared!. This year, I badly wanted to do all the Gokulashtami special items, as this was the first Gokulashtami for my “Kutti Krishna” (My 9 month old son). I called my mom to ask about seedai proportions, and she again said a big no, and this time even stronger! My sis casually asked me why can’t I bake seedai, like baked Pakoda and Bonda, so that mom won’t get scared with me using hot oil for seedai. Why didn’t this strike me! I wanted to try my luck baking seedai, and was happy with the result. Believe me, if you give baked seedai and deep fried seedai to someone, no one can find the difference in taste (except for the color)

Baked Uppu Seedai

Preparation Time : 10 min | Cooking Time : 25 – 30 minutes

Recipe Category : Snack

Ingredients:

Rice Flour – 1 cup

Roasted Urad Dal Flour – 2 tbsp

Asafotida/Hing – 1/8 tsp

Coconut – 2 tbsp

Coconut Oil – 1/4 tsp ( to grease hands)

Salt – as needed

Butter/Oil – 3 tbsp + 1 tsp ( I used Butter, use oil for vegan)

Oil – to grease parchment paper

For urad dhal Flour:

Take 1/4cup of whole urad Dal and dry roast till they are golden brown. When it comes to room temperature, grind them into fine powder

Method:

Preheat the oven to 400 F. Line a baking tray with parchment paper and grease the parchment paper with oil

Dry roast the rice flour in low flame for 2/3 minutes. Do not overcook till they change color.

In a wide vessel, add the rice flour and 2 tblsp of urad dal flour and salt. Sieve them for even mixing

Add butter and coconut to the sieved flour and mix well. Add water slowly and knead them into a pliable dough

Grease your hands with coconut oil and make small balls. Place them on the parchment paper

Bake them for 20-30 minutes. Check half way through and toss them for even baking

My Notes:

Cumin seeds, sesame seeds and Chana Dal can be added

If you are frying, the seedai has to be fried in a medium low flame, as it will help for even cooking. Heat oil in a pan, When the oil becomes hot gently put the seedai balls to the oil. Cook till the oil sound subsides.

I used the store-bought rice flour. Alternatively you can wash and soak the raw rice for 1/2 hours and dry them in a cloth till mositure completely dries, and grind them into fine powder

The seedai dough should not be too tight. Otherwise the seedai will get cracked